Google declined to comment on the reports; Yahoo, Microsoft, and Apple did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

This would not be the first time Cupertino looked beyond Google: The company ditched Google Maps in 2012 for its own troubled mapping application, and stopped pre-loading the YouTube app on iOS devices. Plus, the new Spotlight search app on iOS leans on Bing for support, as does Siri. But in the browser, searches entered into the URL bar default to Google.

The Information also suggested that Apple could dole out property to other foreign search engines for operations outside of the U.S.

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
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